Zak Jules

Zak Kennedy Jules (born 2 July 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League One club Milton Keynes Dons. He has represented Scotland at all levels from U17 to U21.

He began his career at Reading, from where he was loaned out to Hemel Hempstead Town, Braintree Town and Motherwell. He signed with Shrewsbury Town in June 2017, and spent the 2017–18 season on loan at Chesterfield and Port Vale. He joined Barnet on loan in September 2018, before joining Macclesfield Town after leaving Shrewsbury by mutual consent in January 2019. He signed with Walsall in July 2019, where he stayed for 18 months before being sold on to Milton Keynes Dons.

Club Career

Reading

Jules came through the Academy at Reading, and on 31 October 2015 was sent on loan to National League South club Hemel Hempstead Town. He made his debut for the club on 31 October, in a 6–2 victory at Gosport Borough. He made a further seven appearances for Dean Brennan's "Tudors", before he returned to the Madejski Stadium on 4 January 2016. He later said that the loan spell "toughened me up a bit". He signed an extension to his professional contract at Reading at the end of the 2015–16 season.

On 2 December 2016, Jules joined Braintree Town on a month-long loan deal. He played in three National League matches during his time at Cressing Road, and also featured in two cup games. Back at Reading, he reported that he had been working closely with "Royals" head coach Jaap Stam, who told him to be more aggressive. On 27 January 2017, Jules joined Scottish Premiership club Motherwell on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. He endured a difficult start to his time at Fir Park as he conceded a penalty in the 2–0 defeat at Celtic and scored an own goal in the 5–1 home defeat by Dundee that preceded manager Mark McGhee's departure from the club. He did though score the winning goal in a 2–1 victory at Kilmarnock on 4 March, in what was new manager Stephen Robinson's first game in